THE Armed Response Unit was called out after a father of two took his ex-partner and stepdaughter prisoner amid fears he had a a gun, a court was told.

Burnley Crown Court heard how drunken Darren Bannister, 38, had turned up at his then former girlfriend Lindsay Bryan's Burnley home at midnight after she had ended their realtionship three months before. He announced for some bizarre reason he was going to start a fire in the garden and when she tiold him not to he pointed an aerosol can at her and lit it. The flame came within a foot of the victim's face and scared her.

Miss Bryan, who had taken on the care of the defendant's children during their on/off 11 year romance, called to his stepdaughter for help and the defendant then barricaded the pair of them in the room. He took Miss Bryan to task over "some ancient affair," years before and swung a metal bar around. He hit Miss Bryan, causing an injury to her ankle and threatened to throw the pair through the window. The defenfant, who hurled a pint glass through the window then called the police, said he had "two bitches hostage." and reference was made to a gun.

The court was told the incident ended peacefully, without the police having to do anything dramatic and the two women were allowed to leave.

Bannister, of Villiers Street, Burnley, admitted allegations of false imprisonment and assault on January 25 and was jailed for 16 months. He had stayed out of trouble for almost 10 years.

Sentencing, Judge Christopher Cornwall, who said Bannister lost control, added the case was very unusual and the incident was undoubtedly very frightening for the victims. He said Miss Bryan could have suffered extremely serious injury from the dangerous act of lighting the aerosol gas.